Electrochemical energy conversion devices, such as fuel cell devices, are configured to convert chemical energy to electrical energy, or electrical energy to chemical energy. For example, fuel cell devices convert chemical energy in the form of a fuel and an oxidant, to electrical energy, in the form of electricity. Accordingly, fuel cell devices may provide a useful alternative to battery-based power supply systems in many portable electronic devices.
Heat production is known to be a factor limiting the design of portable and handheld electronic devices. These devices include electronic and Radio Frequency circuits which generate heat when in operation. Increasing the functionality of such devices, such as by increasing the array of computing applications contained in the device, increasing the size of the screen, or increasing the bandwidth of the communications protocol all tend to increase the power which must be dissipated by the device.
Power dissipation may be done in a passive way, i.e. without active coolants or active means of cooling such as fans etc. Passive heat management is commonly incorporated in portable electronic devices to direct heat to areas where it can be dissipated (through radiation, convection or conduction). For example, laptop computers contain significant amounts of thermally conductive graphite materials and CPU's commonly require some form of high surface area heat-sink.